Whitman CPC Backs Historic Plaques, Eyes Hornstra Farm Conservation Grant

WHITMAN — February 17, 2026 — Whitman's Community Preservation Committee rejected a $1.5 million land purchase, approved $4,000 for historic plaques, and signaled support for a conservation restriction on the Hornstra farm. The committee voted unanimously to deny a Conservation Commission application to buy a Bedford Street parcel after a private purchase-and-sale agreement came in at $1.5 million — three times the roughly $500,000 the CPA application had envisioned — and the Select Board declined to exercise the town's right of first refusal. The committee also unanimously approved $4,000 requested by the Whitman Historical Commission for plaques on newly designated historic properties. In an informal temperature check, members expressed strong support for committing up to $250,000 in CPA reserves as a 10 percent local match for a state Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant that would place a conservation restriction on the Hornstra farm — the Route 14 property that includes the Peaceful Meadows ice cream stand — permanently protecting the farmland from commercial or residential development regardless of future ownership.